ding it--you couldn't
avoid it, because everybody was talking about it and everybody was
watching.

"Now what do you think?" Emil Grizek demanded. "Any woman wants a
baby, she's got to have those shots. They say kids shrink down into
nothing. Weigh less than two pounds when they're born, and never grow
up to be any bigger than midgets. You ask me, the whole thing's plumb
loco, to say nothing of psychotic."

"I dunno." This from Big Phil. "Reckon they just about have to do
something, the way cities are filling up and all. Tell me every spot
in the country, except for the plains states here, is busting at the
seams. Same in Europe, Africa, South America. Running out of space,
running out of food, all over the world. This man Leffingwell figures
on cutting down on size so's to keep the whole shebang going."

"But why couldn't it be done on a voluntary basis?" Bassett demanded.
"These arbitrary rulings are bound to result in frustrations. And can
you imagine what will happen to the individual family constellations?
Take a couple that already has two youngsters, as of now. Suppose the
wife submits to the inoculations for her next child and it's born with
a size-mutation. How in the world will that child survive as a midget
in a family of giants? There'll be untold damage to the personality--"

"We've heard all those arguments," Tom Lowery cut in. "The Naturalists
have been handing out that line for years. What happens to the new
generation of kids, how do we know they won't be mentally defective,
how can they adjust, by what right does the government interfere with
private lives, personal religious beliefs; all that sort of thing. For
over ten years now the debate's been going on. And meanwhile, time is
running out. Space is running out. Food is running out. It isn't a
question of individual choice any longer--it's a question of group
survival. I say the Courts are right. We have to go according to law.
And back the law up with force of arms if necessary."

"We get the message," Januzki agreed. "But something tells me there'll
be trouble. Most folks need a midget like they need a monkey on their
backs."

"It's a gasser, pardners," said Nick Kendrick. "Naturalists don't dig
this. They'll fight it all along the line. Everybody's gonna be all
shook up."

"It is still a good idea," Lobo insisted. "This Dr. Leffingwell, he
has made the tests. For years he has given injections and no harm has
come. The children are health